Category Archives: Eurasia @ Cornell

The online system for submitting paper abstracts for the 2017 Eurasian Archaeology Conference is now open. Click on the link above that reads “Abstract Submissions” or go here. Students from Eurasian institutions interested in applying for our limited fellowship support may upload supporting application documents through the same system. To receive full consideration, abstract submissions must be received before May 5, 2017.

The Fifth Eurasian Archaeology Conference
Gods on the Grasslands, Myths in the Mountains
October 26-28, 2017, Cornell University

CALL FOR PAPERS

How can the material traces of the past inform our understanding of the divine, the otherworldly, and the mythical? In contrast to other geographical locales, Eurasian archaeologists have long recognized the vitality of religious practices. This attention to the devotional, however, has been closely linked to conceptions of the ethnos. As the ethnos has been destabilized in contemporary archaeological thought, it is increasingly important to rethink the significance of religion in Eurasia’s past.

The Fifth Eurasian Archaeology Conference invites participants to reevaluate the role of religion and religious practices within and beyond daily life. It encourages participants to explore how religion(s) – and conceptions of a world beyond – have shaped cultural beliefs and practices throughout time and space within this vast and diverse terrain that spans from the Danube to the Gobi, from the Great Caucasus to the Tian Shan mountains.

This conference seeks to examine how religion operates as a materially inscribed social force that played a prominent role in shaping Eurasia’s past. We welcome art historians, anthropologists, archaeologists, and historians alike to explore the beliefs, narratives, and ideologies that shaped experiences of the numinous at both individual and community scales throughout Eurasian (pre)history. We look to investigate how systems of meaning also shaped economic, political, and social orders at multiple spatial and temporal scales. The Fifth Conference on Eurasian Archaeology invites participants to explore how social ideologies, cosmologies, and world orders engendered different aspirations, motivations, obligations, and loyalties within communities of practice. The conference seeks session proposals and paper abstracts that will contribute new data, methodologies, and theories concerning the material manifestations of religion, grounded in studies that extend from prehistory to the present day and from Eastern Europe to the Far East.

We anticipate a range of sessions dealing with various aspects of the experience of the divine. Sessions could include:

Divination and Power: Practice, Politics and the Sacred

Religion Matters: The Materiality of Religious Practice

Sacred Space: Placemaking and Devotional Landscapes

Deities as Objects and Objects as Deities

We also encourage participants to consider proposing sessions that draw together multiple contributions on a theme. If you are interested in proposing a session, send a 1 paragraph description and list of 4-6 potential contributors to eurasia2017@cornell.edu by March 15.

Abstracts for papers are due May 5, 2017 via the online submission portal at http://eac.arts.cornell.edu. The portal is now open to receive submissions.

The American Research Institute of the South Caucasus invites proposals from collaborative teams in support of the preservation and conservation of the Republic of Armenia’s archaeological and historical heritage. This ARISC program, generously funded by Project Discovery!, seeks to foster joint work between American and Armenian scholars and institutions dedicated to the proper curation and preservation of heritage materials such as artifacts, sites, and manuscripts. Successful applications will demonstrate substantive collaborations that not only contribute to heritage conservation but also demonstrate efforts to build capacity and enhance local knowledge of current techniques and approaches to heritage management. These grants require active participation of both American and Armenian principal investigators in all aspects of the collaborative project.

Proposals are submitted jointly by a team of two or more scholars and/or specialists. At least one must be a citizen of the U.S. and one a citizen of the Republic of Armenia. Proposals must show evidence of endorsement from all relevant institutions in Armenia in order to demonstrate the feasibility of the undertaking. These grants are not intended for primary research. The participants must demonstrate that the project requires true collaboration between both PIs, as well as active participation by both PI’s in all aspects of the work required to complete the project.

Awards are usually made for a period of 12 months during which the work described in the proposal must be completed. Extensions will be granted only with the explicit approval of ARISC. Grants will typically not exceed $3000.

Application requirements: Please send a complete application including the application form, narrative description of the project, supporting documents, budget, budget summary, curriculum vitae, and evidence of endorsement from all relevant institutions in Armenia by January 17, 2014 to info “at” arisc. org. All information must be received by January 17, 2014 in order for the proposal to be considered for the fellowship.

For a full description and application form, please see www.arisc.org > Opportunities > ARISC Grants and Fellowships.

The American Research Institute of the South Caucasus (ARISC) announces the availability of US graduate fellowships in support of research in the South Caucasus (Armenia, Georgia, and/or Azerbaijan). Awards will be made for a maximum of $1500 each. Projects in all fields in the social sciences, humanities and related sciences are eligible. Proposals will be judged on their quality and on the potential of the research to strengthen scholarship on the South Caucasus. The purpose of the fellowship is to help cover travel and/or living expenses in the South Caucasus. During his/her stay in the South Caucasus, the fellow is expected to give an ARISC-sponsored presentation on a subject related to his/her research. The fellow will acknowledge ARISC in any publication that emerges from the research carried out during the fellowship.

Application requirements: Please send a complete application including the application form, a project statement of not more than 3 pages, work schedule, budget, and curriculum vitae, by Friday, December 20, 2013, to info “at” arisc.org. Two letters of recommendation must also be submitted. All information must be received by Friday, December 20, 2013, in order for the applicant to be considered for the fellowship, as well as in any presentations of the research results.

Please see www.arisc.org > Opportunities > ARISC Grants and Fellowships for the full description of the fellowship as well as the application form.

In the lean times, between Eurasian Archaeology Conferences, there is still a great deal of Caucasus and Eurasia related activity at Cornell. This semester we are proud to have organized a speakers series entitled “Caucasus Panorama” in conjunction with Khatchadourian’s course “The Caucasus: Captives, Cultures, Crossroads“.